Car-wheel lubricator



Dec. 29, 1925- 1,567,623

' B. F. SMITH CAR WHEEL LUBRI CATOR Filed Jan 14, 1925 3 Sheds-Sheet 1 F I E. II

n FIE-L1.

WITNESSES [5 B. F. SMITH CAR WHEEL LUBRICATOR Filed Jan. 14, 1925 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 a FiGJIl.

Y a 1% cigar v w 1 0* Dec. 29, 1925- B. E. SMITH CAR WHEEL LUBRI CATOR Filed Jan. 14, 1925 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 F'IE.I.

FIEJZIIQ Patented Dec. 29, 1925.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CAR-WHEEL LUBRICATOR.

Application filed January 14, 1925. Serial No. 2,392.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, BERTRUMI F. SMITH, residing at Natrona, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, a citizen of the United States, have invented or discovered certain new and useful Improve ments in Car-Wheel Lubricators, of which improvements the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in the structure of car-wheel lubricators, specifically the lubricator described in United States Letters Patent No. 1,125,750, granted me January 19, 1915. The improvements are found in details of structure which improve the lubricator in precision of operation, with saving of oil.

In the accompanying drawings Fig. I is a view in side elevation of the lubricator, in

position adjacent a car-track, which cartrack appears in vertical and transverse section. Fig. II is a fragmentary view to larger scale and in vertical section, on the plane indicated by the line II-II, Fig. I. Figs. III and IV are views in horizontal section, on the planes indicated at IIIIII and IVIV, Fig. I. Fig. V is a view in vertical section, on the plane indicated at VV, Fig. I, but with a car-wheel in operative position relative to the lubricator. Fig. VI is a view in section on a plane at right angles to that of Fig. V, and indicated by the broken line VI-VI, Fig. V. Fig. VII is a view to larger scale and on medial and horizontal section of the nozzle of the lubricator, shown also in Figs. I and III.

The lubricator includes a. tank 11, of suitable siZe to contain the desired quantity of oil, and elevated to suitable height, and a gun, including the parts 7, 8, 17, and 18, presently to be described, with the accessory appliances, for automatic operation.

The lubricator is mounted adjacent to the track upon which run the cars to be lubricated. The drawings show one of the rails 3 of such a track, and, as appears in Fig. I the companion rail will be understood to lie to the right of the rail 3 shown, while the lubricator is placed to the left, that is to say, on the outer side of rail 3. The

tank 11 is securely and immovably mounted on posts 4; which rise from a base plate 1, while the barrel 8 of the gun is mounted in horizontal position beneath the tank and is adapted to slide longitudinally in the frame 5 which, rising from the base plate 1, carries Means are provided for sliding the gun longitudinally in its supporting frame, toward and away from the track 3 and to and from operative position. To this end, the connection from tank 11 to gun 8 is through a length 9 of flexible pipe. A crank shaft 72 is provided, extending at right angles to the longitudinal extent of the gun. From the shaft 72 a crank arm 74 extends, and through a perforation in the outer end of the crank arm 74, and at approximate right angles to the arm 74 and tangent to its arc of turning, extends a-jointed, notched :0 rod 73, capable of being shifted and swung manually. 'The notch in the rod 73 is adapted, by the vertical swinging of the outer part on the inner, alternately to engage and to escape from engagement with a 75 pin 75, conveniently borne by one of the posts 4:. Two sprin s 90 and 91 are provided, arranged as best shown in Figure III of the drawings. When the apparatus is to be brought into service, the rod 73 is so drawn from left to right against the tension of spring 91, and the notch is caused to engage the pin 7 5. When the parts are in this position, the apparatus is held yieldingly under the cushioning effect of spring 90, to abutment against the rail 3. When the rod 73'is swung free of pin 75 and released, the tension of spring 91 will be effective to withdraw the apparatus from operative position adjacent the. track. The shaft 72 is provided with a crank 76 which is linked to a slide 77. From the slide extends an arm 78 which engages the gun. Accordingly, as shaft 72 is turned (manually from left to right; under spring ten- 95 sion from right to left) the slide 77 is shifted and the gun is advanced or retracted.

The gun is provided with a swinging and extensible nozzle, and includes an inner part 17 which is immediately united to the gun 10o body 8 by the ball-and-socket joint illustrated in Fig. VII, and an outer part 18 which is telescopic upon the part 17, as is illustrated also in Fig. VII. Referring to Figs. I and III, the nozzle will be seen to be mounted for swinging within a limited range and in horizontal plane. To that end it extends between parallel, horizontally extending guide plates 79, and to be limited in its range of swing in clockwise direction (as seen in Fig. III) by an adjustable bumper 80. The nozzle is normally held yieldingly to bearing upon the bumper, by a spring 81, which spring continues, as the nozzle is swung, to exert its tension, to bring the nozzle again to the position shown, whenonce released from the means by which it is swung away. No means are found in the structure shown, for swinging the nozzle in anti-clockwise direction. It sufiices here to note that it is free to be swung against the tension ofsp-ring 81. As presently will appear, it is the moving car which efiect-s swinging. The engagement is shown in Fig. VI.

A lever 82 is pivoted in a block 40 which rises from the base plate and is adapted to be swung in vertical plane. One end of the lever is adapted to be engaged by the tread 48 of an advancing car-wheel (see the dotted-line position of Fig. V) and to be depressed as the car advances (compare the full-line position). By such depression a bell-crank lever 83 is swung- (through spring-cushioned connection), and the swinging of bell-crank lever 83 (in clockwise direction, Fig. I) effects through the connections shown the extension of the outer member 1.8 of the nozzle telescopically upon the inner member. As the car passes, the spring alluded to, 8. L, will effect the return of bell-crank lever 83 to initial position, and the retraction of nozzle member 18.

The parts are so proportioned that when, the parts standing in the normal and inactive position shown in Fig. III, the wheel of an advancing car engages the lever 82 (dotted-line position, Fig. V) and depresses it, the nozzle will be extended, and when in sequence thereafter the wheel passes on and allows the lever 82 to rise again, the extended nozzle will recede. And the nozzle so advanced will project precisely into the orifice in the casing of the hub of the wheel formed to receive it, as seen in- Fig. VI. As has already been intimated, it is the advance of the car which, through this engagement, brought about in the manner described, causes'the gun to swing on its pivot. Figure III shows the gun in inactive position and extending angularly to lever 82. Figure I shows the lever 82 in inactive position, rising at its outer end to an appreciable height above the level of the track 3. It will be understood that an advancing car wheel will begin to depress the lever 82 before its hub has come to vertical position above lever 82. Accordingly, as lever 82 begins to swing under the pressure of an advancing wheel, the gun begins to swing, and as it swings, to extend telescopically. It thus comes to engagement in the hub-cap of the wheel. Under conditions of actual practice the gun remains in engagement with the hub-cap while the car wheel is advancing through an interval of about five inches} The orifice of the nozzle is controlled by the spring backed needle Valve 28. From the block which carries the valve, a push rod 85 extends, and as the nozzle enters the orifice in the wheel-hub this push rod, engaged by the rim of the orifice, is driven inward, and so the valve 28 is shifted, against the tension of its spring 29, and the nozzle is opened.

The engagement of the nozzle with the orifice in the hub 01" the advancing wheel is,

by the proportioning of the parts, continued for a sufficient range of swing, to allow the injection of the proper quantity of oil. It will be perceived that, while the nozzle is through the intermediary spring 84: extended, it is the spring which, by virtue of its variability in degree of compression, automatically compensates for the necessary variation in the degree of extension of nozzle member 18, as the nozzle swings through it's arc and maintains continuing engagement with the wheel-hub advancing in straightline course.

The linking together of levers 82 and 83 and the nozzle member 18 is such as to allow the necessary swing of the nozzle member.

The means for propelling lubricant through the gun and into the hub of the car wheel are similar to the means described for the same purpose in my earlier patent mentioned above, but are diiterently and more effectively arranged. The body portion 8 of the gun terminates rearwardly in the spherical enlargement 86, and into this enlargement opens from above the lead 9 from the tank 11. In this line of communication from above is arranged a check valve 12 which opens in the direction of flow, and the mounting is preferably such that the range of valve shift may be minutely adjusted. From below, and diametrically opposite the lead last mentioned opens the cylinder 7, in which is arranged the piston 31. Piston 31 is borne on a yoke 33, and a spring 34 is provided, which tends alwaystohold the piston withdrawn to the outer limit of its stroke within the cylinder, and the yoke in its lowermost position, shown in Figs. I' and II.

A lever41, conveniently fulcrumed onthe same block 40 with lever 82, is through springs 87 connected with yoke 33. At its memes opposite end lever 82 is engaged by a block 88 lying adjacent track 3 and pivoted to swing in vertical plane. Normally the block 88, under the tension of spring 34, stands in the dotted-line positionshownin Fig. V. As a wheel advances from right to-left and from the dottedline to the full-lineposition, Fig. V, not only will lever82 be swung, extending the nozzle into the wheel hub, to the position shown in Fig. VI; the block 88 will be swung simultaneously from dottedline to full-line position. This will efiect the swing of lever 41 and the powerful but spring-cushioned traverse of piston 31.

It will be perceived that as piston 31, after upward traverse, descends, in response to the tension of spring 34:, lubricant will flow from the tank 11, to keep the gun and its connections flushed, and when, the nozzle being extended and introduced into a wheelhub, piston 31 is forced upward, valve 12 will close and the power of the rising piston will spurt lubricant from the nozzle into the wheel hub. As the wheel passes the fullline position of Fig. V, the nozzle being still extended, piston 31 will have completed its upward stroke, and the jetting-in of lubricant will stop. As the wheel continues its advance, levers 82 and ll will swing, under the tension of springs 84 and 34:, in opposite direction to that in which the approaching wheel has driven them; and the descent of the piston will draw back again the lubricant which remained still undischarged in the still extended but now receding extension 18 of the nozzle. Furthermore valve 12, opening, will allow the descent of oil in quantity sufiicient to keep the gun full. The valve 28, seating itself immediately on the withdrawal of the nozzle from the wheel hub, will hold the contained lubricant from es cape, and will cooperate to eifect the ends described.

The operation, in review, is as follows. The tank contains a suflicient quantity of lubricant, and normally the gun and the connections are full of lubricant. When the apparatus isto be brought to position for automatic service, the rod 73, previously withdrawn, is drawn forward and secured to the pin 75. The slide 77 is thereby advanced, and the gun brought to the advanced position in which it appears in the drawings. An advancing car-wheel, coming to the dotted-line position of Fig. V and advancing to the full-line position,-causes two movements of the apparatus described to occur simultaneously: first, the nozzle to thrust forward and enter the opening in the wheelhub, and, second, the piston 31 to drive powerfully upward. As the nozzle comes to place, valve 28 is unseated, and the continued advance of piston 31 causes valve 12 to be seated and a jet of lubricant to spurt into the bearing. A third movement is automatically in,, progress at the same tiine,,the swing of :the nozzle on its ball-and-socket connection with the body 8 of the gun; As the wheel advances the jet ceases, andpresently, ii -sequence, the valve 28 closes, the nozzle is released from the wheel-hub, the nozzlebegins to reced'e andthe piston3l to descend. The excessdisplacement due to piston descent draws new supplies of lubricant from tank 11 and through the passageway controlled by the check-valve 12.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a lubricator for car wheels the combination, with a track for a car, of a stationary tank, a carrier movable to and from operative position adjacent such track, a lubricator gun provided with an extensible nozzle borne by said carrier, means of communication between tank and gun permitting movement of the gun relatively to the tank, and means borne also by said carrier, and adapted, when the carrier is in operative position, to be engaged by a car passing along the track.

2. In a lubricator for car wheels the combination with a car-track of a gun with an extensible nozzle adapted to be opened and closed, mounted adjacent said track, means for extending and opening the closed gunnozzle, such means including an abutment adapted to be depressed beneath the tread of a car-wheel advancing on said track, and means for subsequently projecting lubricant from the extended and opened nozzle, the means last-named including a second abutment adapted to be depressed beneath the tread of a car-wheel advancing on said track.

3. In a car-wheel lubricator the combination of a'car-track, a lubricator gun mounted adjacent said track, said gun including three parts, first, a cylindrical body member, second, an extensible nozzle, and, third, a cylinder with a spurt-impelling piston within it, opening to the said cylindrical body member of the gun transversely to the axis thereof, means operated by a car advancing On said track for extending said nozzle, and means operated by a car advancing on said track for driving said spurt-i1n pelling piston within its cylinder.

4. In a car-wheel lubricator the combination of a tank, a cylindrical gun arranged beneath said tank and extending horizontally, means of communication from said tank to said gun at the rear and opening to the gun in a direction transverse to its length, a cylinder opening to said gun transversely and arranged diametrically opposite to said tank communication, a spurt-impelling piston in said cylinder and a check valve in said tank communication, and means for driving said piston.

5. In a car-wheel lubricator, the combination of a car-track, a lubricator gun mounted adjacent said track and including a horiadvancing on said track and adapted to be 'zon-tally disposed cylindrical body and an swung along the said passageway by .en- 10 extensible nozzle pivoted to said body memgagement with the hub-cap of an advancber in a ball-and-socket joint, a pair of ing car;

horizontally extending guide plates form- In testimony whereof I have hereunto set ing a passageway for the horizontal swing my hand.

of the nozzle, the said nozzle adapted when extended to engage the hub of a car-Wheel BERTRUM F. SMITH. 

